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PRE- and POST- Programming for the 8(a) Firm

Selling Construction Services to the federal government is a different
proposition altogether. We have encountered the special wrinkles presented by
our industry, and feel that a particular orientation to the government's
system of buying construction-related services would have been helpful to us.
Since becoming an 8(a) Program Participant we have spent enormous time and
energy to prepare for utilizing our 8(a) opportunity, only to 1) stumble upon
this different set of construction rules (e.g. bone fide place of business);
and 2) position for bonding and % self-performance. Our firm is in its 29th
MONTH of the 108-MONTH program, and we remain frustrated that the clock is
ticking. Our time is still being consumed learning the ropes! A waste of
valuable "Opportunity Time," don't you think? Certainly each district office
of SBA with its many programs cannot be staffed with construction experts,
but we wonder if the best practices and special requirements of federal
Construction Constracting could be presented in district/regional forums as
part of the standard 8(a) Program orientation? (If this content is already
offered, and we were not made aware, our feelings are very hurt! And if the
j-7 Construction Contracting 101 is all you got, it's not enough.) At last
year's Annual Meeting of the National 8(a) Association, an invitation was
extended from Headquarters to comment on the concept of "Pre- and Post-
Programming" for 8(a). We admit we failed to submit formal comment in timely
fashion. However, if input is still being solicited, we wish to contribute
our opinion now that a PRE-8(a) Program Period would have been extremely
helpful to us. We may have rankled initially at the thought of any
delay(because of our ignorance and being Gung-ho to get into the Program),
but candid information about the steep learning curve (for Construction for
sure) and the for-real lost opportunity time would have, we hope, made us
recognize and choose to become better prepared so that we would hit the
ground running. So then, what additional preparation should we seek to
complete as a CONSTRUCTION FIRM, having credible private past-performance,
but no federal contracting past-performance to-date? And what is the status
of the PRE-Program initiative?

JGabriel | Community Moderator |
10/17/2012 - 11:38 am

Hi, I suggest you visit our local assistance guide to find your local SBA resource partners by entering your zip code. That way, you can reach out to them about your suggestions for the 8(a) program orientation and to see if you can contribute your opinion for the Pre-8(a) program. Another approach that may be useful is talking to a mentor who could offer you specific guidance. Good luck!